Remembrance
by crimeson-plasma
Summary: Battler had to marry the blue haired girl that his parents had selected for him. That had been the whole purpose of this party, that he would get to know her. However, it had been the golden haired woman that really caught his attention. Much to the dislike of both his parents and that Erika Furudo. A reencarnation!AU fanfic. Battler/Beatrice.


Umineko no naku koro ni' is one of my favourite visual novels (and novels, if I'm honest). Since I'm also a sad sap that rarely is happy with certain endings and developments, the idea of writing something for it has been plaguing my mind for quite a while. The idea for this fanfic came to be suddenly yesterday, and I just had to write it down. It is a reencarnation!AU, more specifically a historical one. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

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The first time I saw her it felt like a dream, like something I had dreamt long ago and had forgotten but had abruptly and suddenly come to life.

Gold everywhere - in the decorations around me, in the dresses worn by the noble ladies who flood the room, in the walls of the pure rococo ballroom, but most of all, in her hair. Beautiful and golden, each strand filled with the astonishing colour, as if that of a golden witch. Golden colours all around me, and her, of course, as we are strangely pulled into a moment that feels as if it has taken too long to arrive. Even the light emitted by the chandelier and the multiple candelabrums seems to dress the whole room in this beautiful colour, which nonetheless fails to manage to rival any beauty from her. The serene blue of her eyes is the only thing that I can see and notice. Depths of blue that stare right into my very soul, with a spark of what seems to be the very same remembrance which for some reason I am feeling.

"Lord Battler, meet your second cousin from your father's side - Lady Beatrice," someone says besides me.

_Mellifluous_.

I nod, staring into her eyes. I had heard about her, of course. Stories about a cousin lost and returned, accepted by my grandfather the king into the main family. Stories about a child with a name that had been lost and replaced by 'Beatrice'. Stories and gossip about the person standing before me, grace and pride emanating from her every pore, whom I had practically dreamt about night after night. Dreams of happiness and joyful times, of horror and death, of brutal murders that occurred without end. And I cannot help but be surprised at how she looks exactly the same as in those dreams, exactly how I pictured her. It is as if I had known her in the past, but I am unable to remember.

I bow and fall onto one knee, the black cape draped over my shoulders as I do this. Musicians are already half into the waltz, a composition by an Italian composer, or so I was told, but it does not matter. Not to me and not right now, at least. "Would you allow me this dance, my lady?" I ask with sincerity.

I can feel the stares of all those present, shocked at my proposition. It was unusual of me to ask someone whom I had just met to dance, and everyone knows this. Even stranger is the fact that I, the chosen heir to my grandfather's crown, is asking not the woman for whom this party had been held, some Erika Furudo who my parents wanted me to marry, but a complete stranger which I had just met. Beatrice lets out a small smile, a secret smile, made just for me. Mirth and amusement fill it, as well as that deep remembrance that soaks the air around us.

"It is a strange offer considering the circumstances, Lord Ushiromiya, but I shall accept nonetheless," she says.

I grin, a stupid, childish grin full of joy I am unable to reprehend and is unable to compare with hers. I rise again, and soon we are dancing. One song, and then another and another. I feel a glare on the back of my head, undoubtedly from the woman whom I should be dancing with right now. However that, as well as all other responsibilities, is forgotten as I stare into the eyes of my partner. Ancient and knowledgeable, with a spark of wonder and a strange pain filling them. _Remembrance_. And I fall into them, bewitched, unable to escape or do anything to avoid this.

I lean in, feeling words start forming on the back of my throat. The outline of an ancient promise that I _had_, no, _needed_, to say. A promise which I need to make and tell her, of all people. Nothing but a complete stranger, and yet…

My lips are beside her ear. We are dancing close, slow, despite the animated and fast paced music surrounding us. I can feel heat irradiating from her skin, and a doubtful look from her eyes settling on me.

I smile at this feeling, enjoying the moment as well as her proximity, and I whisper. Uttering it in words only she will hear.

She breaks into a grin after this, laughing at the childishness of the notion, whilst pulling me then into a hug. Her heartbeat is very much like mine. A distant rhythm of forgotten memories and a deep love.

I just smile, and repeat, this time more loudly, that I fully intend to do it. White horse included.

I cannot remember fully where I first met her, but this time I will make sure to fulfil my promise.


End file.
